Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

How it reads

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is young adult (ya school fantasy, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in an invented world, in no single period, told in the third person, staying close to one character. Its central concerns are coming of age, friendship and power and politics. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It's a later book in a series — you'll usually want to start earlier. It ends on a cliffhanger, so have the next book ready. At 576 pages it's a real commitment. It's a mega-bestseller — the book everyone seems to have read.